2013 Bahrain Grand Prix second practice

Kimi Raikkonen was quickest for Lotus in second practice and looked capable of going quicker.

The Ferrari drivers picked up where they left off at the end of the first session, leading the times after the first runs.

Half an hour into the session the Red Bull drivers switched to the medium compound tyres and Mark Webber took over the fastest time. Sebastian Vettel, who’d made a mistake at the final corner earlier in the session, crossed the line a tenth of a second slower than his team mate.

Fernando Alonso looked on course to beat the benchmark time but he caught Romain Grosjean’s Lotus in the middle of the lap, losing a few tenths of a second. His team mate was two tenths of a second slower and Paul di Resta inserted his Force India into the gap between the two.

That remained the order until halfway through the session when Raikkonen did his first run on mediums. He was substantially quicker through the first two sectors and despite understeering in the final two corners he took the quickest time, albeit by just three hundredths of a second.

Esteban Gutierrez, who already has a five-place penalty for this weekend after his crash in China, had another run-in with a rival during the session. Charles Pic moved wide to let him past at turn eight but the Sauber ran wide into the Caterham and Gutierrez hobbled back to the pits with a punctured front-left tyre.

24 comments on Raikkonen on top for Lotus in second practice

Esteban Gutierrez, who already has a five-place penalty for this weekend after his crash in China, had another run-in with a rival during the session. Charles Pic moved wide to let him past at turn eight but the Sauber ran wide into the Caterham and Gutierrez hobbled back to the pits with a punctured front-left tyre.

From this day forward, Esteban Gutierrez shall be known as “Goo” – because he always makes a mess of things.

@npf1 – I disagree on that. He might have money, and he might be struggling, but he doesn’t fit the definition of a pay driver. He is, after all, a GP3 Series champion, and a GP2 Series race winner, so he has a pedigree that suggests he deserves to be in Formula 1 on merit. His problems are no doubt exacerbated by the C32’s lacklustre performances, but I think he’s more of a talented driver who isn’t quite ready for Formula 1, rather than a pay driver who has no business being there.

I don’t really consider him to be a pay driver as I would consider Taki Inoue or Narnain Karthikeyan, but Telmex did play a big part in him getting the Sauber seat. I don’t necessarily think pay drivers are a bad thing, either, but his last season in GP2 didn’t really warrant a seat in F1, in my opinion.

I’m not sure where my other post in this comment section has gone, but there I did mention I thought he is most likely right in his pre-season assumption that he might not be ready for F1. While the C32 will impact his times, his clashes with Sutil and Pic, as well as some other sketchy moments, I don’t think he’s doing himself any pleasures, nor the idea of hiring a driver as a midfield team because of sponsor preferences.

I also think his problems are perhaps more psychological, the pressure being too high or he himself being insecure, than it being a lack of experience. As you said, he did win races and championships before.

@akshay depends what is listed … Force India has a quicker car than McLaren at the moment but I don’t feel their drivers make the most of it while Button quite manage his car (compared to Perez).
On car alone, I would rank Force India ahead of McLaren, but drivers taken into acount, I think Jenson could be ahead of both Force India by the end of the race …

This looks like another close one at the top. I’m expecting Red Bull to be fastest in qualifying, followed closely by Lotus and Ferrari. In the race, Lotus will have the best race pace and tyre strategy, followed closely by Red Bulls and Ferrari.

I think a Kimi, Vettel and Alonso podium is possible.. although its hard to say in which order they will finish.

I have a feeling that four of the top five drivers (If not all five) will be in the top 5 come the end of the race. All of them have looked good this year, and with McLaren seemingly out of it currently, Grosjean and Massa not comparing well to their team mates and Mercedes not finding the time they had in the past couple of races, it’s hard to see anyone else in the mix.

Ferrari’s high fuel pace on both the prime and option looked better than any other car…even Lotus. If they have a strong qual (and with Webber having a grid penalty their odds are even better to do so) they are my favs for the win on Sunday with the same temps as today.